St. Petersburg police investigating transient found dead near St. Anthony's Hospital

ST. PETERSBURG — Police are investigating the discovery of a body in a park near St. Anthony's Hospital on Monday morning. There don't appear to be any signs of foul play, according to St. Petersburg police. A grounds keeper found the body at 8:20 a.m. in a park north of St. Anthony's, which is at 1200 Seventh Ave. N. Officers said the body was in the bushes near the park's gazebo, just south of Ninth Avenue N and 12th Street. The body is that of a white man in his 50s, police said. His identity was not released Monday. Empty beer cans were found around his body. He appeared to be a transient and living at that location for at least several days, police said. Shaving supplies and blankets were also discovered. The body was taken to the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. Given the very cold overnight temperatures, careful attention will be paid to symptoms of hypothermia, said Bill Pellan, director of investigations for the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office. "If you have a person who is homeless or transient who is sleeping outdoors as cold as it is, that's always a possibility," he said.